Governor announces plan to boost KCHIP enrollment

Sep 15th, 2008

On September 3, 2008, Governor Steve Beshear announced a plan to enroll as many children as possible in the Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Program (KCHIP) by 2010. Scheduled to start November 1, the plan aims to dramatically cut the number of children without health coverage by removing barriers to enrollment, retaining more children once they are enrolled and significantly increasing education and outreach regarding the program. The goal is to enroll over 35,000 by FY2010. KCHIP provides health insurance to children whose family income is below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, about $42,400 a year for a family of four. Read the full details of the plan here.

“It is shameful and shortsighted that we are not providing children with the health care they need and deserve,” Gov. Beshear said. “The steps we are taking today to get more eligible children enrolled in the Kentucky Children’s Health Insurance Program are fiscally responsible, economically smart, and, quite simply, the right thing to do.”

Kentucky Voices for Health applauds the Governor’s action as an important step towards reducing the estimated 93,000 Kentucky children who are not covered by health insurance. On August 18, Kentucky Voices for Health released an issue brief, Better Health Coverage for Kentucky’s Children: Small Changes Mean Big Improvement, which reported that over 62,000 children statewide are currently eligible for KCHIP but not enrolled in the program. The brief also outlined a number of common sense recommendations for improving participation in KCHIP, most of which were adopted by the Governor’s plan.

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